Chloride

What is Chloride ?

Chlorine in the body exists in the form of chloride, an essential electrolyte mineral. It is best known as the other half of sodium-chloride or table salt.

It makes up about 0.15% of body weight (around 115 g for an average adult) and is found mainly in the fluid surrounding cells, alongside sodium.

A small percentage of about 15% of chloride in the body is located inside cells, with the highest amounts in red blood cells. Chloride is also present in very small amounts in bones.

Most of our chloride intake is from table salt. It is easily absorbed by the intestines. It is eliminated through the kidneys in a finely tuned mechanism that regulates acid-base balance by either removing or retaining chloride.

How Chloride Benefits Health

This electrolyte mineral works with the other electrolytes potassium and sodium to maintain the proper balance of body fluids, as well as their pH balance. Chloride is also an essential component of digestive juices, as it is needed with hydrogen to form stomach hydrochloric acid.

critical constituent of hydrochloric acid, a key component of gastric juice secreted by the stomach that is vital for maintaining the normal acidic environment needed by pepsin, and aids digestion and absorption of many nutrients including iron and vitamin B12

Deficiency of chloride, or when blood levels of it drop too low, is known as hypochloremia. It is rare, as chloride is part of table salt which is present in most foods. In fact, people are prone to consuming more chloride than is really needed, due to salt-laden diets.

Hypochloremia can occur however, for a variety of reasons that include :

heavy sweating, as large amounts of sodium and chloride can be lost in perspiration

excessive fluid loss due to prolonged diarrhea or vomiting, or overuse of coffee or laxatives or diuretics

over-hydration

burns

congestive heart failure

certain kidney disorders

Addison’s disease

most often seen in infants on chloride-deficient formulae

In the unlikely event that it occurs, a few chloride deficiency symptoms can be identified.

::

Chloride Deficiency Symptoms

1.

loss of appetite

2.

muscle weakness

3.

lethargy

4.

dehydration

5.

deficiency leads to alkalosis, a condition in which body fluids have excess base (alkali), that can result in dangerously high blood pH and excessive loss of potassium in urine (which in turn causes hypokalemic metabolic alkalosis with symptoms that include loss of control of muscle function which might lead to breathing and swallowing difficulties)

Taking vitamins and minerals in their correct balance is vital to the proper functioning of all vitamins. They work synergistically, which means that the effectiveness of any one nutrient requires, or is enhanced, sometimes dramatically, by the presence of certain other nutrients.

For this reason, if you are looking to take supplements for maintenance of optimal health, the recommended approach is to take a multi-vitamin that has the proper balance of all the necessary nutrients your body needs.

For a list of reputable top ranked vitamin and mineral supplements chosen in an independent supplement review, see Best Multivitamin Supplements. Many of these are manufactured to pharmaceutical or nutraceutical GMP compliance, which is the highest multivitamin standard possible.

Keep in mind, however, that while mineral supplements are useful to plug nutritional gaps that are almost inevitable in modern diets, and to ensure we get optimal doses of nutrients, they are no substitute for a good diet. Instead, use them to complement a healthy diet and lifestyle.

The Food & Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, in their 1997-2001 collaboration between the US and Canada, set the daily Adequate Intake (AI) of Chloride as follows.

Life Stage | Gender

Chloride Dosage | Day

Infants 0-6 mths

0.18* g

Infants 7-12 mths

0.57* g

Children 1-3 yrs

1.5* g

Children 4-8 yrs

1.9* g

Girls 9-13 Yrs

2.3* g

Boys 9-13 Yrs

2.3* g

Females 14-18 Yrs

2.3* g

Males 14-18 Yrs

2.3* g

Females 19-50 Yrs

2.3* g

Males 19-50 Yrs

2.3* g

Females 50-70 Yrs

2.0* g

Males 50-70 Yrs

2.0* g

Adults older than 70 Yrs

1.8* g

Pregnant Women 14-18 Yrs

2.3* g

Pregnant Women 19-50 Yrs

2.3* g

Lactating Mothers 14-18 Yrs

2.3* g

Lactating Mothers 19-50 Yrs

2.3* g

These dosages are the minimum required per day to ward off deficiency. In therapeutic use of this nutrient, dosage is increased as necessary for the ailment, keeping in mind Chloride toxicity levels.

A higher-than-normal level of chloride in blood is known as hyperchloremia. It is normally not a concern as excess chloride is excreted by the body.

However very high intakes of more than 15 g a day for instance, usually in the form of salt, may lead to symptoms such as acid-base (pH) imbalance, fluid retention, and high blood pressure. (Although the problems can be attributed more to the excessive sodium than the chloride.)

The Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine has set Tolerable Upper Intake Levels (UL) for chloride. These are levels above which there is risk of chloride toxicity, especially when taken over a long time.

U.S. National Libary of Medicine [NLM] & National Institutes of Health [NIH]: MedlinePlus. NLM-NIH home page. <http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus>. Use the built-in search function to find specific data. Accessed 2009 March – June.